NUTS-3 BG425 · Bulgaria
Population
149,4782025
GDP
€1,218M2024
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
3.2%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
73%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
3,216.9 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
BG425 · BG343
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Кърджали (Opportunity 25). Runner-up: Ямбол (20). Contrarian pick: Ямбол — leads the set on Cost advantage (EU pctl 100).
#1Кърджали
Strengths
Cost advantage (99) · Demographic outlook (85)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%)
Governance (EU bottom 15%)
#2Ямбол
Strengths
Cost advantage (100) · Energy cost (65)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%)
Connectivity (EU bottom 15%)
Digital readiness (EU bottom 15%)
Governance (EU bottom 15%)
Why you might not pick Кърджали
Economic base (EU bottom 15%); Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%); Governance (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Economic base (EU pctl 0) — Ямбол may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
Кърджали leads under all four archetype mandates — the recommendation is weight-stable.
Phase-2 diligence checklist
- Site-level grid connection capacity and power pricing (beyond country-grain energy data)
- Local incentives, tax regimes and permitting timelines
- Workforce depth for your specific roles (the talent pillar is a proxy)
- Real-estate availability, rents and land — public pan-EU data stops at the Nordics
This is a mandate-neutral read. To weight the pillars to your thesis, run these regions through the Site Screener — it ranks all 1,211 regions under your weights and exports the full PDF. First-pass macro screening, not investment advice.
Composite intelligence · 0–100 EU-percentile scores
Opportunity Indexscale + growth + access + structure
25.2
19.9
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
53.3
36.8
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
22.8
18.4
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
18.0
14.0
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
29.8
21.3
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
70.8
55.0
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
2.5% 5y
6.3% 5y
Population
1.7% 5y
1.1% 5y
Unemployment rate
0.6% 5y
0.0% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€8,146
€9,939
Population density
46 /km²
31 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
Firms per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
All indicators · 85 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€1,062M
€914M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€123M
€75M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€324M
€197M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€266M
€171M
GVA — construction (F)
€56M
€33M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€146M
€203M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€6,700
€6,200
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
13,300 PPS
16,000 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€8,200
€9,900
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€2,738M
€1,872M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€682M
€382M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€5,794M
€4,209M
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€127M
€120M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€6M
€7M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€162M
€196M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€251M
€211M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€1,026M
€455M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€25,016
€24,764
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€315M
€195M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
64,500
53,730
Self-employed persons
26,890
19,080
Employment in manufacturing (C)
12,990
11,050
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
69.9%
72.5%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
14.6%
16.3%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.2%
4.6%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
65,700
45,400
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
5,257
4,878
Enterprise births
558
507
Enterprise deaths
670
735
3-year enterprise survival rate
5.7%
5.2%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
0.4%
0.3%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
3.2%
2.4%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
0.5%
0.4%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
29.3%
30.9%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
36.6%
33.5%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
6.8%
4.3%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
21.0%
21.4%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
7.5%
6.4%
Digital
Households with internet access ·N2
92.3%
91.6%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
122,348
41,262
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
457 /1k
450 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
1,138 kt
2,551 kt
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
9 km/1000km²
11 km/1000km²
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
71
83
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
2
1
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
90,707
60,892
Population aged 65+
40,483
28,516
Population aged under 15
18,288
16,021
Median age of population
51.2 yrs
49.3 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
44.6%
46.8%
Crude rate of total population change
19.7 /1k
-8.4 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
28.6 /1k
-0.2 /1k
Crude birth rate
6.3 /1k
10.0 /1k
Crude death rate
15.2 /1k
18.3 /1k
Live births
927
1,060
Deaths
2,250
1,933
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
64.8%
73.1%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.50
2.42
Population density (persons per km²)
47 /km²
32 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
222,015
69,356
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
34.4%
35.8%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
76.1 yrs
75.7 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
25.6%
27.0%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
924 /100k
797 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
2,023 /100k
2,099 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
240 /100k
215 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.7 /100k
0.9 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
1.4 /100k
9.4 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
4.8 /100k
47.0 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
91.4 /100k
374 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
80 /M
79 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
-0.07
-0.07
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.25
0.25
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
-0.10
-0.10
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
-0.14
-0.14
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.33
0.33
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.135/kWh
€0.135/kWh
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.041/kWh
€0.041/kWh
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
241 m
112 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
44 days/yr
53 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
44 days/yr
50 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
7 days/yr
6 days/yr